Sectional header for boilers and the like



Dec. 8, 1925- 1.565.060 A. COTTON SECTIONAL HEADER FOR BOILERS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 3- 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ALFRED CGTTON ATTORNEY Dec. 8, 1925. 1.565.060

'A. COTTQN SBCTIONAL HEADER FOB BOILERS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 23, 1922 4 Sheets-Shoot 2 INVENTOR ATTORN EY Dec. 8,1925. 1.565.060

A. COTTON sac-mm. HEADER FOR BOILERS AND was mm Filed oct'. 23. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR ALFRED COTTON ATTORNEY Dec. 8, 1925 4 1.565.060

A. COTTON SECTIONAL HEADER, FOR BOILERS AND THE LIKE Filed 001:. 23; 1922 4, Sbeets-$heet 4 INVENTOR Y ALQRED GoT'roN ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 8, 1925.

UNITED STA'lEd Parser oFFrcE.

ALFRED COTTON, 0}? ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO HEINE BOILER COMP-ANY, OF LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION; OE MISSOURI,

SEOTIONAL IIEADEB,, FOR BOILERS AND. LIKE.

Application filed. Gctobcr 23, 1922. Serial No. 596,432.

To all whom it may concern. 7

Be it known that I, ALFRED Corron, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certainnew and useful Improvement in a {"iectional Header for Boilers and the like, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

1 This invention relates to sectional headers of the kind that are used in water tube boilers and similar structures and particularly forged, sectional headers of the type that are formed from a wrought ironor steel tube which is deformed in such a way as to produce a hollow member provided with corrugated sides and adapted to be arranged in an upright position at one end of the tube bank of a water tube boiler, so as to serve as a header for water tubes. The conventional forge-d, sectional boiler header is of sinuous shape or serpentine shape in general outline and is usually produced by taking tube of approximately square cross section and passing it through dies which force adjacent longitudinal sections of the tube in opposite directions, so as to produce asinuous member in whichthe staggered or offset portions of same are of substantially the same rectangular cross section as the original tube. Due to the fact that the metal in the front and rear walls of the tube is subjected to considerable shearing forces in bodily displacing adjacent longitudinal sections of the tubes in opposite directions, enormous pressure is required to deform the tube, and moreover, it is necessary to arrange a mandrel inside of the tube to prevent it from collapsing While it is being forged into sinuous shape. The mandrel that is used to prevent the tube from collapsing has to be composed of a large number of pieces which are capable of moving relatively to each other, and consequently, considerable time is spent in assembling the mandrel and arranging it inside of the tube prior to the deforming operation and in disassembling the mandrel and removing it from the tube at the completion of the deforming operation, This, in. addition to he fact that enormous pressure is required; to deform the tube, makes the cost of manufacture of the conventional serpentine boiler header very high.

One object of my invention is to provide a sectional header for boilers and similar structures that can be manufactured. at a lower cost than the conventional sinuous, or serpentine header.

Another object is to provide a sectional header formed from a wrought iron or steel tube, which is of such design that no portions of the tube will be subjected to destructive shearing stresses during the operation of deforming the tube.

To this end I: have devised a sectional header that is produced by taking a tube of circular or approximately circular crosssection and deforming said tube by pressing opposed side portions and opposed front and rear portions of same inwardly towards the longitudinal axis of the tube in such a way as to produce outwardly-bulged portions on the lateral sides of the tube and outwardly-bulged portions on the frontand: rear sides of'the tube that are arranged in staggered relation with said lateral bulged portions. Such a header is strongerthan the conventional serpentine header, due to the fact that no portionsof the tube fromwhich the header is formed are subjected to abnormal shearing stresses Which alter the molecular arrangement of the metal, and it can be manufactured at a low cost, due to the fact that less power is required to deform the tube, and'to the fact that it is not necessary to use an internal mandrel in the operation of pro ucing the bulges on the front and reansides and onthe lateral sides of the tube.

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of the tube that I prefer touset-o form my improved header.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of said tube.

Figure 3 is an end view of said tube after the open end of same has been partly closed.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tube shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tube after it has been, deformed,

Figure 6 is a similar view, taken at right angles to Figure 5.

Figure 7 is 2 longitudinal sectional view of a sectional header embodying my invention, but of slightly different form from the header shown in Figures 5 and 6.

Figures 8 and 9 are transverse cross-sec tional views of the header shown in Figure 7, taken on the lines 88 and 9-9, respectively, of Figure "l.

Figure 10 is a rear elevational view and Figure 11 is a front elevational view of a header of the kind shown in Figures 5 and 6.

Figures 10'- and 11 are views corresponding to the views in Figures 10 and 11, illustrating a. slight modification of my invention.

Figure 12 is a longitudinal sectional view of a header embodying my invention and designed for use with a boiler in which the headers are arranged vertically.

Figure 13 is a longitud' nl sectional view of a header of the kind shown in Figure 12, but of slightly dil'lerent construction.

Figure 1% is a rear elevational view of the header show in Figure 13.

Figure 15 is a top plan view, illustrating one method of constructing my improved header; and

Figure 16 is a perspective view, illustrating the action of the rolls that are used to deform the tube from which the header is constructed.

One method that can be used to prod uec my improved header is to start with a tube .11 of circular or oval shape in cross section, open at one end and having its opposite end closed by an integral end wall y, as shown in Figures 2 and 4;, said tube being of the kind known con'miercially as a Shelby .drawn tube. After the open end of the tube a; has been partly closed by a bending, swaging or spinning operation, so as to produce an end wall provided with a hole .2 that can be used to receive a nipple, the tube a; is placed in a machine and crimped or bent at regular intervals along its length, each crimp being formed by pressing opposed portions of the tube inwardly towards each other and each succeeding crimp being at substantially right angles to the previous one, thereby causing the walls of the tube to be simply bout, with very little displacement of the metal. By referring to Figures 5 and G, which are longitudinal sectional views at right angles to each other of a tube that has been crimped, or deformed in the nanner above described, it will be noted that the first crimp in the tube is produced by bending two diametrically opposed portions 1 in the lateral sides of the tube inwardly towards each other, as shown at the right hand end of Figure 6, thereby causing the portions in the trout and rear sides of this particular longitudinal section of the tube to bulge outwardly at 1, as shown at the right hand end of Figure 5. The next crimp in the tube is formed by bending diametrically opposed portions 2 in the front and rear ends of the next longitudinal sec tion of the tube inwardly in such a. way that said opposed portions 2 are disposed at right angles to the opposed portions 1, the operation of pressing the opposed portions 2 of the tube inwardly towards each other causing the portions in the lateral sides of this particular longitudinal section of the tube to bulge outwardly at 2, as shown at the right hand end of Figure 6. The succeeding longitudinal sections of the tube are deformed in a similar manner, thereby producing a sectional header having corrugated lateral sides, made up of diametrically-opposed, inwardly-projecting portions and diametrically-opposed, outwardly-bulged portions, and front and rear sides, each of which is made up of a number of bulged portions arranged in staggered relation with the bulges on the lateral sides of the header.

[it the completion of the deforming operation the general outline of the header will be that oi a hollow member composed of a series of spaced, elongated, relatively wide portions which extend crosswise ot the tube bank when the header is arranged in opera tive position in the boiler, and a second series of spaced, elongated, relatively deep portions arranged between and at right angles to the portions constituting the first series. It the header is to be used in a cmiventional water tube boiler holes are tormcd in the rear side of the header to receive the boiler tubes or circulatingtubes and hand holes are formed in the "trout side of the header to facilitate the operation of expanding the boiler tubes into the header, the hand holes in the front side of the header being closed by removable caps or hand hole plates when the header is arranged in operative position in the boiler. The header can either be constructed in Such a way that it will co-operate with one vertical row of staggered boiler tubes, or it can be constructed so that it will accommodate one and ODGlHllit rows of staggered tubes, this being due to the fact that the relatively wide, elongated portions of the header that extend across the breadth of the header are long enough to enable two boiler tubes to be connected to same. Therefore, I have illustrated the header, in Figure 10, as being provided in its rear side with pairs of holes 3 formed in the wide portions 100 of the header that extend across the width of the header, and single holes 1- formed in the deep portions 0 ot the header that extend across the depth of the header or in the same general direction that the boiler tubes extend. Corresponding holes 3 and l are. formed in the trout side CPI of the header, as shown inllligure 11,, said holes 3 and at being adapted to be closedv by ren'iovablecaps or. closureswhen the header is arranged in operative position in the boiler. The lateral sides. of theheader are corrugated, thereby enabling a plurality t headers to be arranged side by side in, nested.

relation with the bulged ends of the wide portions 100 of one header seated in the concavedside faces of the deep portions 200' ot the two headers arranged at the opposite sides of same.

It is immaterial, so far as my present invention is concerned, what means is used for deformingthe tube from which the header is constructed, and while I have described a method in which the tube is deformed progressively, this'is only one of many methods that may be used to produce myhcader. One convenient way of producing the header is to passthe tube from which the header is formed between. a, set 0t rolls composed of one pair of rolls which deform. the tube to produce the wide portions 100 of the header and a secondpair of rolls whichdetorm the tube to produce the deep portions 200 of tlie header. Thus, as shown in Figures 15 and 16, the tube may. be deformed by a set of: four rolls composed of two rolls E arranged parallel to each other in opposed relation and tworolls F arranged parallel to each other in opposed relation and, at right angles to the rolls E, the rolls E being provided with relatively blunt teeth 6 that co-operate with each other to pro: duce the inwardly-pressed portions 1 otthe tube and the rolls F being providedwith "relatively blunt teeth 7 that co-operate with each other to produce the inwardly-pressed portions 2 of the tube. The rollsE and F are mounted in such a way that some or all of said rolls can be adjusted towards and away from the space between said rolls through which the tube passes, this being; illustrated in Figure 15, wherein the rolls are shown in solid lines'in their advanced position in engagement with a tube .10 that is being deforn'ied and in dotted lines 'in their retracted position. In the operation of l orn'iing the bulges in the tube no inandrel or other internal support is required to prevent the tube from collapsing, due to the support provided in the valleys by the metal hung; in tension between the adjacent peaks of the tube, and as the tube is detorn'ied' by simply bending diametrically opposed porlions in adjacent longitudinal sectionsof the tube inwardly towards each other, very little power is required to operate the rolls E and F. Accordingly, a header of the construction above described can be manuiacturcd at a low-er cost than the conventional serpentine headers now generally used in ater tube boilersf As no, portions oi the tube are subjected to enormous of such a header is thatit may be provided with. end walls formed by integral portions of the tube from. which the header is constructed, thereby overcoming the necessity of; providing the header withwelded ends, as is necessary in the manufacture of the conventional serpentine header.

hen theheader is designed for use in a boiler-of the kind in which the headers are arranged in an inclined position, at right angles to the boiler tub-es, it will be pro vided: with symmetrical corrugations or crimps, as shown in Figures and 6, and the rolls that are used t o deform the tube from which the header is constructed will be an ranged'in the manner illustrated in Figures and. 16. When the header is designed for use in a boiler of the kind in which the headers are arranged in a vertical position, the de'l'forming rolls are so arranged that the opposed rolls of one pair will havetheir corrugations dispose-d helically and. the rolls oi the other pair will be so arranged that one will be set a little in advance of; the other, so as to cause the bulged portions at one side of the tube to be oilset slightly from the bulged portions at the opposite side ofthe tube, as shown in Figure 12, thereby producing a header, which. when arranged in a vertical position, will have holes in its vtront side that are in substantially longitudinal alignment with the boiler tubes which are connected to the rear side of the header.

If desired, the header can be suliijected to a further operation so as to form flat surfaces on its rear side to which the boiler tubes can be connected and to form flat surfaces on its front side for the gaskets that are used to form tight joints between. the header and the removable caps that normally close the hand holes in the front side of the header. in Figures 7, 10 11", 13 and 1+? I have illustrated headers provided with flat faces ot'the character mention-ed, those on the rear side of the header being designated bythe reference character 21. and those on the'tront side of the header being; designated by the ref eren e character 22; These flat faces may be-formed without greatly stretching the metal by simply bending the metal inwardly, as shown in the cross-sectional view, Figure 9. Another slight change that can be made in the shape ofthe header, if desired, is to form flat surfaces: 24 onv the lateral side faces of the wide portions 100 of the header, as shown in Figure 8, and form fiat surfaces 25 on the lateral side faces of the deep portions 200 of the header, as shown in Figure 9. i i

From the foregoing it will be seen that it have produced a sectional header for boilers and the like that is different, both in design and construction, from the conventional sinuous or serpentine sectional header. 1t differs in design in that it may be said to be made up of two sets of right-angularly-disposed, elongated portions, one of which sets comprises a group of relatively long portions that extend crosswise of the header and the other set comprising a group of relatively deep portions that extend lengthwise of the depth of the header and which are arranged in staggered relation with said wide portions. It differs in construction in that the tube from which it is made is deformed by a simple bending operation that can be performed in a light-weight, low-power machine without liability of subjecting the metal in the tube to destructive strains.

While I prefer to produce my improved header by starting with a drawn tube of circular or substantially circular cross section and bending opposed portions in adja cent longitudinal sections of the tube in opposite directions, so as to produce opposed bulges on the lateral sides of the tube and opposed bulges on the front and rear sides of the tube that are arranged in staggered relation with the lateral bulges, it is not absolutely essential that the headerbe formed in this manner, and the particular shape and relative dimensions of the bulged portions of the tube are immaterial. This method of producing a sectional header results in a header in which the bulged portions on the front and rear sides of the header are of suf'licient length to permit two tube holes or hand holes to be formed in same, side by side, but I wish it to be understood that my invention is not limited to a header of this particular form. For example, it would be possible to start with a drawn tube of a cross section resembling a flat oval and deform alternate longitudinal sections of the tube by pressing opposed portions of said alternate sections inwardly towards each other, thereby producing a header in which the deformed sections of the tube constitute the wide portions 100 of the header that extend crosswise of the tube bank and in which the intermediate longitudinal sections of the tube lying between the deformed sections constitute the deep portions 200 of the header that extend lengthwise of the depth of the header.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A sectional header of substantially rectangular shape in cross section adapted to have a plurality of circulating tubes connected to same, said header consisting of a deformed metal tube provided on its lateral sides with diametrically-opposed, inwardlypressed portions and diamctrically'opposed,

outwardly-bulged portions, bulges on the front and rear sides of the header arranged in staggered relation to the outwardlybulged portions on the lateral sides of the header, and tube holes and hand holes in the front and rear sides of the header, respectively.

2. A sectional header of substantially rectangular shape in cross section consisting of a deformed metal tube provided on each of its lateral sides with a plurality of out wardly-bulged portions arranged diametrically opposite the outwardly-bulged portions on the other lateral side and provided on its front and rear sides with outwardlybulged portions arranged in staggered relation to the outwardly-bulged portions on the lateral sides, and tube holes in the rear side of the header.

8. A sectional header of substantially rectangular shape in cross section consisting of a deformed metal tube provided on its lateral sides with diametrically-opposed bulges and provided on its front and rear sides with bulges arranged in staggered relation to the bulges on the lateral sides, the bulges on the front and rear sides of the header extending across the width of the header, and holes in the rear side of the header for receiving circulating tubes.

i. A sectional header, consisting of a hollow member of substantially rectangular shape in cross section, constructed from a metal tube whose walls are bent in such a .way as to form diametrically-opposed, inwardly-pressed portions and diametricallyopposed, outwardly-bulged portions on the lateral sides of the header and also bulges on the front and rear sides of the header, hand holes in the front side of the header, and tube holes in the rear side of the header.

5. A sectional header, consisting of a hollow member of substantially rectangular shape in cross section, constructed from a metal tube whose walls are bent in such a way as to form diametrically-opposed bulges and inwardly-pressed portions on the lateral sides of the header and also flat surfaced seat faces on the front and rear sides of the header, hand holes in the seat faces 1 on the front side of the header, and tube holes in the seat faces on the rear side of the header.

6. A sectional header, consisting of a hollow member of substantially rectangular shape in cross section, constructed from a metal tube whose walls are bent in such a way as to form diametrically-opposed bulges and inwardly-projecting portions on the lateral sides of the header and also fiat surfaced seat faces in the front and rear sides of the header arranged in substantially parallel relation to each other and disposed at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the header, hand holes in the seat faces on the front side of the header, and tube holes in and an integral end Wall for the header, and the seat faces on the rear side of the header. bulges on the lateral sides and on the front 7. A sectional header, consisting of a holand rear sides of the header that lie between 10 low member of substantially rectangular the inwardly-pressed portions of said tube, 5 shape in cross section, constructed from a tube holes in the rear side of the header, and metal tube Whose Walls are bent in such a hand holes in the front side of the header. Way as to form inwardly pressed portions ALFRED COTTON. 

